We have three or four cats
Two or three of them are black
Fred, the ginger, remains Fred

Without Boss Dog they seem lost
Alliances shift hour by hour
Minute by minute

Who gets the lap?
Right now, surprisingly,
Ms. Black is back

Miss Prissy Hissy
Lady Lucky herself
Prowls her kibble kingdom

Fred the Red with a "Rouwll!”
And a “Rouw!” and a “Prrrrrt…”
Makes his feelings known

Black in the box
Remains subtle queen
With a Lucky detente

Game is not over
Black blur in periphery
Three cats or four?

I’m oscillating differently
The frequency has changed
The thrum feels different

We hum along as fish schools or
A flock of birds murmurating
Shimmering, scintillating

The live wire vibrates
Temperatures rise
Time to leave the flock

Archived sounds of
Modem’s tortured yodeling
Dot Matrix‘s Zzzzzzzzzzzkt; Thwick!
Zzzzzzzzzzzkt; Thwick!

The boop-boop-hoop-boop…
Of another’s busy phone. Or:
"35 cents for the next three minutes”
Chik-fwwwwrick-ka-ching-ing, kik-frwwwwrick-ka-ching

Back further: the
Thwick-bop-bob-bop
Thwick-bop-bob-bop-bop
Of a rotary dial

Further back:
The piercing
Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Of the 3am TV test signal

Why stop there?
Cha-clump; Cha-clump, Cha-clump; Cha-clump
Milk bottles rattle
Cream at the top
Milk truck’s come and gone

Everything living
Requires things dying
Nature is beautiful cruelty

It’s thermodynamics
An energy gradient
A food cascade

Staggering connectedness
Exquisite fragile quilt
Sadly, loose strings pulled

Acknowledgment first
Atonement follows after
Actions matter next

Archived sounds
Modems yodeling
The boop-boop-hoop
Of someone’s phone busy

Back further: the
Thwick-bop-bob-bop
Thwick-bop-bob-bop-bop
Of a rotary dial

Further back:
The piercing
Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Of the 3am TV test signal

Why stop there?
Cha-clump; Cha-clump, Cha-clump; Cha-clump
Milk bottles rattle
Cream at the top
Milk truck’s come and gone

Alack!
Taken aback!
It’s a fact, Jack.

Think you’re on track
Then: smack!
It’s a backtrack.

So you go back, Mac
Give yourself some slack
Have a flapjack stack

Carry what you lack
Remove it from the black
And take it back, Zach!